Recipes

Marin Mommies presents this week's guest recipe from Nicole Cibellis, Marin mom and author of the blog A Family that Eats Together, where she shares meal plans and recipes that will please foodies and children alike. Nicole is also the creator of the new Little Froglet line of children's activewear.

Nicole's meal plan for this week features thyme and lemon lamb chops with couscous and cucumbers, slow-cooker short ribs with a black Mission fig mole sauce and sweet potato fries, shake-and-bake coconut chicken with saffron rice and coconut-mint dipping sauces, mac-and-cheese with alphabet pasta, and this spring-inspired angel hair pasta with asparagus and prosciutto.

Strolling through the farmer’s market this weekend has made me so excited for spring. The market is filling up with all kinds of produce including tons of asparagus. This recipe has a delicate blend of lemon and cream, which lightly coats the pasta and asparagus. The prosciutto gives it a little salty flare. If you would like this dish to vegetarian, leave out the Prosciutto.

Marin Mommies presents this week's guest recipe from Nicole Cibellis, Marin mom and author of the blog A Family that Eats Together, where she shares meal plans and recipes that will please foodies and children alike. Nicole is also the creator of the new Little Froglet line of children's activewear.

Nicole's meal plan for this week features Chinese roast chicken with whole wheat buns, roasted vegetable and mini meatball pappardelle, chicken tostadas, lamb meatballs with lemon-yogurt sauce, and this tofu curry with baby bok choy.

I love curry dishes, especially with tofu. There is something so warming and delicious about curling up with curry and rice. This recipe is easy to make. I have become a fan of baking tofu to get the consistency of fried tofu without all the fat. Baking it does take more time than frying but, it is half the calories so, it is well worth it. In this recipe, the curry is very mild but it can be easily spiced up with hot pepper flakes. Also, you can substitute asparagus, peas, pea pods and really any vegetable you prefer, in place of the baby bok choy. My son just loved this curry and asked for a second serving, which in my house is always the sign of a successful recipe. Serve with rice.

Crepes, those thin and delicate French pancakes, are one of those dishes that's easy and fun to make, and can be served up for any meal—breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and dessert. They're easy to make and the only limit to them is your imagination. My kids love choosing their own fillings to make their own crepe creations at mealtime or for dessert.

Crepes were orginally created out of buckwheat flour by Breton peasants as a substitute for expensive bread, but now they have a more elegant status on most menus.

Here's the basic crepe batter recipe we use:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup water
• Pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons melted butter

While it may be spring, the evenings are still chilly enough to warrant making a nice pot of warming soup for dinner. This easy and delicious meatball minestrone—filled with mini chicken meatballs, pasta, and fresh vegetables—is perfect for a cool evening.

The kids love to pitch in and help make the meatballs, which is really the hardest part of this easy-to-make recipe; the soup comes together really quickly and easily and is ideal for a weeknight meal. Feel free to vary the vegetables to reflect whatever you happen to have on hand.

Ingredients

Serves 6–8

Meatballs

• 1 pound ground chicken
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Marin Mommies presents this week's guest recipe from Nicole Cibellis, Marin mom and author of the blog A Family that Eats Together, where she shares meal plans and recipes that will please foodies and children alike. Nicole is also the creator of the new Little Froglet line of children's activewear.

Nicole's meal plan for this week features Irish lamb stew, beef stir fry with snow peas, penne ai peperoni, Asian lettuce cups, and this easy quiche with spinach, pancetta and shallots.

My mom always made quiche for a quick lunch or dinner when she had very little in the house to make. I found myself in that situation this weekend so I made my own version. This is a quick and easy recipe. As a side, I prefer a lettuce and baby arugula salad with a French vinaigrette (recipe included).

Marin Mommies presents this week's guest recipe from Nicole Cibellis, Marin mom and author of the blog A Family that Eats Together, where she shares meal plans and recipes that will please foodies and children alike. Nicole is also the creator of the new Little Froglet line of children's activewear.

Nicole's meal plan for this week features baked ginger chicken, beef bulgogi with pear dipping sauce, curried cream of tomato soup, broccoli rabe pesto with orechiette, and this easy and delicious Spanish-style roasted chicken.

This is super quick and easy recipe in which you throw everything into the baking dish and let it cook for 1 hour. The result is a terrific stress free dinner the whole family will love.

Servings: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour

Marin Mommies presents this week's guest recipe from Nicole Cibellis, Marin mom and author of the blog A Family that Eats Together, where she shares meal plans and recipes that will please foodies and children alike. Nicole is also the creator of the new Little Froglet line of children's activewear.

Nicole's meal plan for this week features slow cooker Moroccan brisket with red onions, broccoli rabe pesto with orechiette, kheema mattar curry, Guiness and onion soup with Irish cheddar croutons, and this easy chicken cacciatore with red pepper sauce..

This is a quick and easy recipe that the kids will love. The peppers make the sauce sweet which is a nice addition to cacciatore. What I love about it is how easy it is to make it. I let the chicken poach in the sauce so it is not only healthy but it makes the chicken super juicy with little effort on my part. I serve my cacciatore with spaghetti but any pasta will do. This recipe gets better as left-over’s. I added some peas to it for our lunch today and it was a hit!

I'm always looking for healthy but tasty snacks for the kids' lunch boxes or for after school. My daughter brought this oatmeal muffin recipe home from preschool last spring and it's been a hit in our house ever since. This recipe is easy enough that children can help out in nearly every stage (let mom or dad take them in and out of the oven, though).

With whole-grain oats and raisins, these muffins are tasty and kid-friendly, but full of nutrition and fiber. You can also add chopped walnuts or substitute dried cranberries for the raisins. Be creative!

You can make these as either full-sized or mini muffins. Mini muffins are a real hit with the kids, and they're the perfect size for school lunches, after-school snacks, or for play group treats. We often bring these for school class parties, too.

Lemon bars have to be one of my all time favorite desserts. I usually reserve lemon bars for special occasions, because they are so sweet and rich. They are great for a special treat, party or a school event.

The other day, a friend gave me a big bag of Meyer lemons from her tree and mentioned that they make spectacular lemon bars. If you're not familiar with Meyer lemons, they're a seasonal citrus fruit that's similar to the regular Eureka lemons that you find in the grocery store, but with a thinner peel and sweeter and more aromatic. That weekend, I made a big batch of lemon bars from the freshly picked lemons. They were truly fantastic, with an amazing citrus flavor that you simply won't get from grocery store lemons. If you don't have a Meyer lemon tree yourself (or have a friend who does), you can find them Trader Joe's or at one of the local farmers markets—while they're in season.